Oblivion revisted

Out of Oblivion is a story I began last year (2025) and which has stalled. I have currently published three chapters on Vocal, all linked to part one, which can be read here:

Out of Oblivion

I have written two further chapters and mapped out two more, but the work has faltered because, having starting the story, I have lost sight of the direction it is going, which is making it increasingly difficult to write further episodes.

This article was written as an entry to the Vocal Media: Not Quite There challenge. Vocal is an online platform for supporting, discovering and rewarding creators. I often write stories and publish them while they are still in progress. Feedback is always welcome, including critical appraisal of any aspect of my work. If you are not (yet) a Vocal creator, it is free to register, comment and post your own work. Or please feel free to comment on any social media platform where I have shared the story. Thanks!

Ray Taylor

The story is a mystery. It starts with a mystery and, at first, it is not clear what the mystery is. So, it is a mystery in which the nature of the mystery is itself a mystery? How mysterious! Problem is, unlike a murder mystery, in which the ending is generally revelation of 'whodunnit' or other such resolution of the crime, the mystery in this story is something quite different.

This is a part of the problem. Nobody has been killed and so the detective is not there to find the killer. In my story the detective is not a detective at all, and certainly does not work for the police. He is not a private detective. This is not unusual. Just think of Marple, Father Brown, or other vicarious sleuths. The ‘detective’ in this story is an investigative journalist. His job, on behalf of the reader, is not to solve a murder mystery, it is to solve an altogether different kind of mystery.

If we look at the first three chapters, you may be forgiven for having a number of questions in your mind about what is going on. I would suggest you read the chapters first, if you do not want me to spoil the story for you. It will also make it a lot clearer what I am talking about:

Read the story so far

1. https://vocal.media/fiction/out-of-oblivion

2. https://vocal.media/fiction/oblivion-two

3. https://vocal.media/fiction/oblivion-three

The first, and obvious, question that arises in chapter one is: who is the mystery man who says his name is Simon? The way he presents himself is very unusual. There is also, evidently, a lot of money involved in whatever he is involved with.

The next obvious question is: what does mystery man Simon want? In chapter two, he tells us (through the investigative journalist, Charles) what he wants but, in so doing, the answer he gives begs further questions. Although Simon says he wants to engage Charles in some kind of assignment, and says what that assignment is, the explanation is not entirely clear. This is all deliberate on my (the author's) part and is intended to build the mystery. Does it?

Chapter three establishes that Simon has access to a great deal of money. In fact, there is so much money on the table that Charles cannot accept any of it. Not least because he does not know what he is expected to do for it. Not accepting the money also reveals something about Charles, about his integrity or ethics. Also, clearly, Charles needs time to take in all that has happened. Chapter three ends with Charles heading somewhere to do some thinking.

What would you do if you were an investigative journalist and you were approached with an offer, apparently, of a lifetime, by a mystery man? Surely you would want to find out more about the man in question. This is the obvious next step and so Charles switches into investigation mode and tries to find out who Simon is, where he comes from, and what he really wants.

Charles, of course, does not solve the mystery there and then in chapter four. How much does he find out? Well, not enough to get him much further. So he must change direction. At this point, the story needs to introduce some new characters and make use of some bye-plot to complement the main plot and theme. This of course will happen.

Such developments lead us to the question of why progress in writing the story has faltered. The answer is simple. I have started to write the story without a specific ending in mind. I know how I will build the mystery and the tension to a crescendo, a climax, but I do not exactly how to frame that post-ending big ban. This problem, I need to conclude before I lead the story along the wrong path.

One question I have been asked by a reader is: Wouldn’t it be better set in a different time?

The year the story is set is 1999, the time of the ‘Millennium Bug’ which many technical commentators said would cause elevators to stop mid-floor, automated production lines to halt, and aeroplanes to fall from the sky. Some predicted the end of the world. Strange times indeed.

The time needs the be a time of tension, crisis, perhaps disaster. It has to be man-made or at least something that can be fixed by human effort. The Millennium Bug has no specific bearing on the story in itself, it just seemed a good time and a time I can remember. If, as someone suggested, I set it in the Second World War, I would have no personal references to draw upon. I may be old but I am not that old.

But before I give any further thought to setting, I must map out an ending. Thinking the problem through like this, out in the open, has helped, thanks.

Although I have no clear ending in mind, one thing I do know is the answer (kind of) to the question: who is Simon? But then, so do you, my reader, if you were paying attention to chapter one.